Miniature Lightning
by athenethegoddess
Summary: Xander has to cope with some new changes in his life, and then find a way to survive with them. WIP
1. Chapter 1

Title: Miniature Lightning

Author: Athenethegoddess02

E-Mail: Umm..I guess PG-13 for language, eventually for violence...read at your own peril?

Disclaimer: They're not mine. If they were, some of them would be tied up in my basement.

Category: Crossover with Highlander

Summery: Xander has to cope with some new changes in his life, and then find a way to survive with them.

Spoilers: None that I know of, because to be honest, I haven't seen more that about 10 eps of Buffy, and this all comes from my mind. Which, I've been told, is a twisted place.

Feedback: Always a plus.

**Chapter One**

Xander Harris died one warm night in May. No one noticed. Not even himself. Fortunately for him, scant hours after dying, he revived. No, he wasn't a vampire, nor any other "hellmouthy" creature.

Xander went to bed feeling, hmm..less than well. Something had snapped, or gotten smushed, or twisted, or something. But when he laid down, he never thought that it would be his final resting place, albite temporarily.

He woke up from what he thought was a nightmare, jerking up in bed with a gasp as air rushed back into dead lungs. Xander, being the male that he is, just shrugged off his nightmare, rolled over, and fell back asleep.

When he woke up in the morning, he felt much better than he had when he went to bed. Getting up, he took a shower, ate some breakfast, got dressed, and went to work. He just shrugged off the fact that his injuries from the night before had completely disappeared. He figured that he hadn't been that injured after all, if he was alright this morning.

His death went unnoticed for the next 3 days. It wasn't until then that he noticed that something ...wasn't quite right anymore. Well, maybe it was right. Just different than before.

While at work, Xander was watching what other people were doing, not what he, himself, was doing. He preceded to trip over a power cord, and fall, driving a nail sticking up through a board into his hand.

Biting back a curse, he jerked his hand off the offending scrap of iron. Inspecting his hand to see how bad the damage was, he was a bit startled to see small flickers of blue lightening crawl across the puncture wound. He stood, amazed, as the lightning fused his skin back together, knitting torn muscle and skin. Minutes later, it was completely healed.

If it hadn't been for the blood on the nail, Xander would have thought he'd imagined it. Wanting to test to see if he was insane, seeing things, or if it'd really happened, he reached into his pocket, and pulled out his Swiss Army knife. Pulling the blade open, he ran it along his hand, splitting the skin open with the sharp blade. He flinched at the pain, but ignored it.

He watched as more miniature lightning knitted the cut back together.

_Well, that's new. Ummm...Willow? Did you do something to me?_

Xander wiped the knife on a scrap of rag, then wiped the blood off his hand. Clean, unblemished skin showed underneath.

Xander walked through the rest of the work day in a daze, wondering just what had happened, and _when_ for that matter.


	2. Chapter 2

When Xander got home from work that evening, he took a shower, got dressed, and headed directly to the Magic Box to try to find out what had happened.

Opening the door, he stepped inside, and looked around.

"Anybody here? G-man? Anya?" he yelled.

"For goodness sake, Xander, do you have to yell? We're right here. And we're not deaf."

Giles and Anya stood up from sorting a box of something. A bookcase had obscured the view, and Xander hadn't see them.

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry. I didn't see you. Can we focus on me for a while? I seem to have a SLIGHT problem going on!" Xander yelled.

"Geez Xander, lighten up, will ya. It's not like you're dead or anything. Is it?" Buffy and Willow had entered behind him while he was yelling about his problem.

"I mean, you're not dead. Right? Someone tell me I'm right. I mean, you're obviously not a vampire. Are you?"

"No, Buffy, I'm not a vampire. Hello, sunlight." He pointed at the patch of sunlight he was standing in.

"Oh. Well, that's good. Right? So. Um, what's wrong again?" Willow looked confused.

"Oh,_ goody_. I get to demonstrate. Is everyone here, 'cause I really don't want to do this twice."

"Do what twice?" Dawn asked.

"Ah, there's the last of us. Lets see. Giles, do you have a sharp knife handy? Thanks." Giles handed him one of the knives from the display case.

"Careful, Xander they're very shar- um..." Giles trailed off as Xander rolled up his sleaves, and slid the sharp blade across his arm.

Everyone gasped, and started yelling at him.

"Xander! What are you doing?" Willow yelled.

"Hey, stop that!" Was Buffy.

"Uh.." Was Dawn's brilliant response.

"Xander! What are you...." Giles demanded.

"Will you guys shut up for a minute and WATCH!" Xander yelled over the commotion.

Silence descended, as everyone stared at the usually less forceful man. Their focus went to Xander's arm, and what was going on there.

Anya leaned forward, and stared with confusion at the bleeding appendage. "What are we supposed to be....Ooh. I see. Pretty."

"Um..That, I believe, isn't supposed to be happening, right?" Willow asked, looking from Xander's arm to Giles. Giles looked more closely at Xander's arm, and said, "Indeed, it's not. No normal human, that I know of, heals like – that." He pulled off his glasses, and started polishing them.

"So, what, he's not human? Xander, I thought you were human. Please tell me you're still human, so I won't have to kill you. You're still human, right? 'Cause I thought you had to be at least bitten or something, and I don't see any bite marks, because a bite from a demon is usually rather big, right, so I don't see any blood, other than from the cut, and you're still human right?"

Everyone stared at Buffy, who went red. "I did a Willow, didn't I." They nodded.

"Wow." Breathed Dawn. "I thought only Xander and Willow could do that."

"As far as I know, Buffy, I'm still human. So, stay away from me with the Slayage, ok? Good Slayer." Xander slowly took a few steps back, moving slowly away from Buffy. She stuck her

tongue out at him, and leaned back against the door, flipping the sign to "closed."

"So, if he's not a demon, not a vampire, and not under a spell....right?" She looked between Giles and Willow.

"Not that I can tell. I'll have to do a bit more in-depth searching, but as far as I can tell he has no magic around him. Giles?" He nodded in agreement.

Anya jumped off the counter, where she'd been sitting, and moved over to Xander. She grabbed his arm, and drug it into the light. Picking up a cleaning rag, she wiped the blood off his arm.

"Hunh, compleately healed. I thought only Slayers and vampires could heal this fast. Hmmm.."

"What? What are you hmming a bout?" Xander wanted to know.

"What? Oh, it's just that I think I heard something about some people who can heal this fast, but I wasn't really paying attention when I was told about them. Just something about how they're invunrable to curses, or something. I was a bit busy with some other....business. Sorry, can't tell you any more than that." She shrugged, then threw the rag into the trash can.

Xander went into the back room, and washed off the blade, and the rest of the blood from his arm. Drying his arm and the knife, he walked back into the other room. The rest of the Scoobies were tossing ideas back and forth about what could have possibly happened to Xander.

"Xander, exactly what happened, and when did you notice this." Giles asked.

"Well, I noticed it today, otherwise we would have had this conversation already. I tripped today at work, and a nail went through my hand. That'd be about when I noticed it. As to when it happened, I don't know. I mean, other than that demon we fought last week, nothing big has happened. Just some vamps. And I didn't even get hurt then." He shrugged, and leaned against the counter.

"Xander, when was the last time you were hurt in one of our....encounters?" Buffy wanted to know.

"Last week, with the demon. Remember, it threw me through a crypt? Hit my head a bit with that one." he rubbed the back of his head in remembrance.

"But you were fine the next day. Weren't you? I mean, you didn't say anything about it the next day." Willow said.

"Yeah. I was fine the next day. That's kinda weird. I had a nightmare that night, something about drowning. Woke up. Everything was fine then." Xander shrugged.

"Hmm..interesting. Xander, I want to do some research, and I want you to write down everything you remember about what has happened since then. Willow, help him with that. Dawn, start looking up fast healing on the internet, you're good with those infernal machines. I'll start going through the library, looking for anything on healing. Anya, if you remember anything, or know anyone who could answer this problem for us, look them up, would you? Buffy...help Willow."

And marshaling the troops, he dispersed orders like a field general. Everyone got down to work.

"Hopefully, we'll have this figured out before too long. Everything's going to be fine, Xander."

_Ihope._


	3. Chapter 3

1A few hours later, everyone was gathered back around the research table in the Magic Box. From the frustrated looks on everyone's face, no one had found anything of relevance to Xander's problem.

"Dawn, you found _nothing _on the internet?" Giles asked, looking incredibly frustrated.

"Well, I didn't find _nothing_ on the internet, but I didn't find anything that was helpful in the Xander-type instance. But did you know that..." she trailed off at the glare that she was receiving from everyone. "Nevermind."

Xander groaned and thumped his head down on the table.

Giles glanced down at the piece of paper that Willow had handed him.

"Are you _sure_ that there is nothing more you can add to this Xander? You can't think of anything else?"

"Positive, Giles. That's pretty much all that I've done within the last few days. Other than this, it's not like I lead an incredibly interesting life, ya know."

Buffy glanced at the clock. "It's getting late. I'm hungry. Anyone else?"

Everyone murmured agreement. "Ok. Chinese, or pizza?" Everyone but Dawn wanted pizza, but since she was the youngest she got outvoted.

"Ok. Toppings? I know, Willow. Vegetarian. Gotcha. Everyone else is a carnivore, right? So, one vegetarian, and what, two meat lovers? Good, now that we got the toppings part out of the way, second question. Who's paying?" Everyone turned to the two people who actually had jobs, Xander and Giles.

"Split it 50/50, G-man?" Xander grinned as Giles winced at the hated nickname.

"Fine. But please.."

"Don't use that name." everyone finished for him.

He sighed. He knew that he'd never win on that particular argument. But he'd put up a good fight, nonetheless.

Buffy called and ordered the pizzas. Since it was still light out, Dawn was sent to the corner store to get a case of soda. The pizza got there before she got back. Giles wrote a check, and Xander gave him his half in cash. Dawn got back just as the sun started to set.

Everyone quickly demolished the pizza, leaving only a few crusts as leftovers.

"So. Um, not to be single minded or anything, but what, exactly, have we found out about my problem today?" Xander asked.

"Hmm. Not much." Giles admitted.

"I'll look on the internet later tonight, when I get home. I might be able to find something that Dawn missed. Not that I'm saying that she might have missed anything, or not looked hard enough but– I'll shut up now. You know what I mean, right?" Willow looked beseechingly at Dawn, who just giggled and nodded.

"Right. You do that, and Xander, remember, if anything else unusual happens, write it down, and let me know. Buffy, while you're patrolling, if anything unusual happens, same goes. Well. Maybe not writing it down. Just let me know." Giles muttered.

Everyone nodded, knowing that the same applied to them as well.

"Check. If anything strange happens, let Giles know."

"Anya, if you remember anything about what you were told, same applies to you. And if you happen to see Hallifrax, could you please ask her about this? I'm hoping that this _isn't_ a vengeance thing." Anya nodded.

"I don't think it is, I don't really see how being able to heal really fast would be a type of revenge, ya know?"

"All the same, keep it in mind, please."

Xander stood up. "Well, I'm going to take off then. I gotta be to work early tomorrow, so I'm going to go home and go to bed. I'll see you all tomorrow after work."

He gathered up his jacket, and waved a final goodbye to everyone.

As he left, he didn't notice a blonde vampire walking towards the store. Spike was one his way to the Magic Box to pester the watcher, and to visit with Dawn. He caught a brief glimpse of Xander as he turned the corner at the end of the block.

_Wonder where he's off to so early._

Spike shoved open the door to the store, and walked in. He stopped for a moment just inside the door. He was immediately surrounded by the scents of the people in the room. One of them was slightly off.

_Xander. Something is different about Xander's scent._

He continued into the room as if there was nothing wrong. Slamming the door behind him, he sauntered over to the table.

"Was that the Whelp that just left?" he smirked at the room, and slid Dawn a surreptitious wink.

Giles sighed. "Yes, Spike, that was Xander that just left. I believe he was headed home to get some rest before he goes to work early in the morning."

"Ah, yes, the working stiff that he is. So, what's new in the life of the 'Scoobies' tonight?" he plunked down in the seat that was next to Dawn, and propped his feet on the table.

"Anything to kill? I'm getting bored with the telly."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Xander woke to the screeching of the alarm. Slapping the snooze button, he glared at the clock and wondered why it was that he was getting up at 5 am.

_Oh, yeah. Overtime. One must pay one's rent. If one wishes to have a place to live in._

He rolled out of bed, and blearily made his way to the bathroom. He quickly showered and brushed his teeth, then got dressed.

Grabbing an apple from the refrigerator, he glanced down at it as a thought occurred to him.

_If I heal that fast, I wonder if my metabolism has sped up to match it? Do I have Slayer-like metabolism now?_

Shuffling that to the back of his brain as something that he needed to ask Giles, he headed out the door, and to work.

Ritchie was bored. And a bored Immortal, especially one of his age, was a dangerous thing. There were no classes at the dojo today, so it was empty.

Leaving a note for Duncan, Ritchie decided to take the rest of the day off. He grabbed his leather jacket, and locked the door behind him. Duncan told him that he didn't think that there was anything in the dojo that was worth stealing, but in Ritchie's experience, everyone had something that someone else wanted. Besides, once a thief, twice as cautious.

Duncan may be over 400 years old, but in some instances he was as naive as a new born.

Grabbing his helmet off the back of the bike, he put it on. Despite the fact that he would probably survive almost any crash, he still wore one. It helped to keep the police off his back.

Ritchie started the bike, and pulled out into the slow traffic. He cruised along, headed nowhere in particular. He was just enjoying the rare sunny day. You didn't get many of them in Washington.

Hearing his stomach growl, he pulled out of traffic, and parked in front of a local diner. They had pretty good burgers, and wonderful apple pie.

He parked the bike, and took off the helmet. He left it dangling from the handlebars. He entered the restaurant, and was quickly seated by the hostess. Ordering the famous burger and apple pie, he settled down to plot some mischief, and to find a way to relieve the boredom.

_Maybe I should take a trip. Tell Duncan that I've finally decided to go to collage, and go check some out. Maybe down to California. It's a legitimate reason. Who knows, I just might find one that interests me..._

He absently ate the burger when it arrived, and before he knew it, the burger was gone, and he was halfway through the apple pie.

_Wow. Did I even taste that?_

He felt the familiar tingle in the back of his mind that signaled another Immortal nearby, and glanced up at the door.

He smiled ruefully when he saw Duncan walking towards him.

"Guess you caught me. How'd ya find me?" he asked.

"Come on, Ritchie. Everyone knows that this is your favorite restaurant. You love the burgers and apple pie. After all, you _do_ get the same thing, every time." Duncan sat down, and glanced at the proof left on the plates in front of Ritchie as an example.

"So, what's on your mind? You seem a little lost." Duncan waved the waitress over, and ordered a cup of coffee.

"Not much, really. I was just thinking. About collage. And maybe it's time that I should start looking at one. After all, I'm hoping that I'll be around for a while, and I'd rather not be considered an idiot for the next few hundred years. It seems that anyone who doesn't have a PHD or some other alphabet soup after their name is considered a moron. Besides, I guess, I could use a change of pace. Ya know?" He glanced at Duncan to gauge the look on his face.

"Well, Ritchie, if that's what you want to do, then I'd say it's a good idea. But, however, I don't consider you a moron or an idiot. Well, maybe an idiot." Duncan teased.

Ritchie rolled his eyes at him. "Where's the Old Man today? I'm sure he'll have some good ideas about where I should go to school. Being that he's probably either taught at or been a student at most of the ones in the country."

Duncan laughed again. "You're probably right. He's coming over for dinner tonight. Going to drink all my beer, lay on the couch, and criticize my cooking skills. Why don't you join us, you can ask him about schools then. Say, six-ish?"

Ritchie nodded. "Six-ish it is then. Want me to bring anything?"

"Extra beer? I'm sure we could use it." Ritchie laughed, and nodded. "Sure. See ya then."

Later that night, Ritchie stopped in at the liquor store, and bought some of both domestic and imported beer. He knew that the Old Man liked imported beer better than anything that was made on American soil.

Personally, Ritchie agreed with him. He didn't much care for beer, most of the time. Sometimes, though, you just needed a beer.

He rang the buzzer for the elevator, letting Duncan know that he was there.

_Not that he didn't notice me when I got within range._

The elevator clanked down, and he pulled the grate up, stepped inside, and shut the cage. He hit the up button with his elbow, since both hands were full of beer.

The elevator clanked to a stop. Ritchie inhaled appreciatively. "Smells good. What are we having? Hey, Adam, catch." He pulled a warm beer out of the case of imported beer, and tossed it to him.

Adam set down the beer that he was already drinking, a domestic one that he thought of as pisswater. "Ah, youngling. You _have_ learned something from me! I'm so proud."

Duncan rolled his eyes, and said, "Well, I wanted stir fry, but _he_ wanted Mexican, so we compromised, and we're getting chicken stir fry with Mexican seasonings. You can either put it over rice, or in a taco shell. It's up to you."

"Good compromise. Smells good, whichever it is." Ritchie put the domestic beer in the fridge, and left the imported ones on the counter. He'd quickly learned that Adam had a _fit_ if you chilled his imported beers.

"_They're not **supposed** to be cold! Something you barbarous Americans perverted, chilling your beer like that."_

To witch Duncan usually replied that _he_ wasn't an American. And Adam's reply usually was that it didn't matter, because he still drank his beer cold.

Ritchie was used to this argument, but it still amused him each time that he heard it.

"So, Brat, Duncan tells me that you're thinking of going to collage. Somewhere warm, I take it, so that you can watch mostly naked girls while pretending to study, right?"

Ritchie shrugged. "Sounds like a good plan to me, don't you think?"

Adam snorted, and shook his head. "Of course it does, why do you think that I only brought you information on the ones in the warm states?"

"Because you're a very smart man, who knows what goes on in the small mind of a man my age?" Ritchie popped a piece of mushroom into his mouth. He was pretending to help Duncan cup up vegetables for the stir fry.

Adam snorted again. "Which mind is that, Brat? The one on your shoulders, or the one –"

"I think we get the point, Adam. Thanks." Duncan interrupted.

Adam winked at Ritchie, who smirked. They both sighed at the same time, and said, "Victorian sensibilities."

"Very funny." Duncan threw a broccoli spear at Ritchie, who caught it and ate it.

"Thanks. I was feeling a bit peckish."

Exasperated, Duncan threw him out of the kitchen. "Go do something else, you're not helping me here. You're just eating everything in sight, as usual."

Ritchie wandered over to the window, and stared down at the streets below. Familiar streets, ones that he'd seen day after day for the last few years. He sighed. Strange how some things can be so comforting, and yet so confining at the same time. Make you glad to be home, but yearning to be somewhere else. Wanting things to stay the same, but hoping for change.

He turned away from the window, not seeing the concerned look that the two other Immortals exchanged.

He wandered over to the sound system. He riffled through Duncan's cd's, and picked out a new cd. He put it in, and pushed play. The smooth sound of Bonnie Raitt's voice floated out of the speakers.

"Nice choice, Brat."

"Thanks, Old Man."

Adam handed him a pile of brochures. "Here. I picked out the one's that were close enough to the beach for you to get your eyeful of glistening bodies, while still making an effort to study."

Ritchie flipped through them. "UCLA, Berkley. Heard of them. USD, USF?"

"Universities of San Diego, and San Fran, respectively."

"Ah, big city universities."

"Yep. I'm sure that you've noticed something, hanging out with him all these years." He jerked a thumb at Duncan. "The larger the city, the more Immortals there are around."

Ritchie nodded. "Yeah, got that one early on."

He held up another glossy brochure. "What about this one? SDU?"

"Ah. Sunnydale University. Good school. Nice people. High crime rate, but after living in Seacouver, I'm sure you're used to that."

Ritchie nodded, and studied the brochure. "Rather eclectic classes they've got here. History, archeology, music, sports, _ballet?_ Computer corses, they've got everything for everyone, don't they." He glanced up at Adam. "Nice people? Been there, have we?"

"Yep. Only for a little while. Just stopped in for a quarter to teach a short class on mythology. Interesting students." _Interesting_ _nightlife, too._

Duncan watched Adam curiously. _What aren't you saying, Methos? I hope you know what you're doing. _He glanced at Ritchie, who was reading over the class catalog again. _I also hope you're not getting him into something over his head._

"Dinner's ready." Was all he said.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

_One week later_

"So, nothing's changed, Xander? You still heal that fast if you get hurt?" Dawn asked.

"Nope. No changes with the Xan-man." Xander held the door to the Magic Shop open for her, and gestured for her to enter first.

"Thanks. Hunh. Well, no news is good news, right? Or is it no noose is good noose?"

He chuckled at her quote from Robin Hood Men In Tights.

"Right. So they tell me, anyhow. Anything new with you? Got a boyfriend yet?" he teased.

"No, and even if I had one, I wouldn't tell you. You'd scare him away in less than a minute."

"Aw, come on. You're telling me that _I'm_ going to scare away a boyfriend when you've got _Buffy_ for a sister? Please. Like I could scare someone." he rolled his eyes.

"You'd be surprised. Most guys don't think of Buffy as a scary person. Well, unless they're demons or vampires. But most _teenage_ boys aren't scared my her."

Xander raised an eyebrow at her. "Ok, ok, ok. Most _normal_ teenage boys aren't scared of her. They're too busy drooling to be scared."

He laughed, and nodded. "I'll bet they are." He looked around the empty store.

"Anya? G-man?" he called. "Anyone here?"

"I'm on the phone, Xander. I'll be right out." Giles muffled voice came from the back of the store.

"Take your time."

Dawn set her backpack down on the research table, and pulled out her laptop. She plugged it in, and turned it on. Xander was looking through his wallet. "I'm gonna run down to the store on the corner, you want anything?"

"Sure, a Coke'd be good. Thanks!" she grinned at him.

"No prob. Tell Giles I'll be right back." She nodded, and waved as he went out the door.

Giles came out of the back office, and sat down at the table. "Where'd Xander go?"

"Walked down to the store. Went to get us something to drink. Be right back."

"Ah. That's good."

"So, what's up?"

"Oh, a friend of mine just called. He's got a student coming down to look at SDU, wanted to ask me to give him the keys to Adam's house. Adam's going to let him stay there while he's here, and rent him the place if the guy likes the university."

"That's nice of him. Did Adam tell you the guys name?" Dawn was looking out the window, watching for Xander to come back with the promised soda. She heard the distant roar of a Harley, and thought it was Spike for a minute, but it was still daylight out.

"Yes, his name is Ritchie Ryan. Adam said that you couldn't miss him."

"He wouldn't happen to have red hair and ride a motorcycle, would he?" She watched the man on the Harley pull up in front of the store.

"Why yes, how did you know?" he asked, glancing at her in surprise. She pointed out the window.

"'Cause I think he's here." Giles twisted around to see what she was pointing at.

"I think you may be right. He certainly does match the description."

Ritchie pulled his helmet off, and ran a hand through his hair, grateful to have the hot thing off. He hung it on the handlebars, and looked around. He was parked in front of a store that had a sign that read 'Magic Box' in faded letterings.

_Hope this is the right place. It's where Adam said he could pick up the keys to he apartment._

He swung off the bike, making sure that the kickstand was down. He stamped his feet, bringing feeling back into the numb limbs.

He pulled off the new gloves that Duncan had given him before he left. Duncan had, in fact, gotten him a complete set of new leathers. Jacket, chaps, gloves, vest. It was one of the nicest things he'd had done for him before. And one of the most expensive.

He stuffed them into the pocket of his jacket, and walked to the door. Pushing it open, he squinted in the dim light.

"We're over here." came a voice from his right.

"Hey. I'm looking for Rupert Giles?" he glanced at the man seated at a table with a teenager with long light brown hair. Giles stood up, and held out a hand. They shook hands.

"I'm Rupert Giles. I'm guessing you're Ritchie? Adam just called."

Ritchie laughed. "He does like to leave things to the last minute, doesn't he."

"That he does. Here, I have the keys in my desk, let me just go get them. Ritchie, this is Dawn. Dawn, Ritchie." Giles walked back to his office to dig out the keys to the apartment.

Ritchie nodded. "Hey. Nice to meet you. You work here?" he asked.

"Nope. We're just waiting for my sister to get off work so we can go home. Well, I'm waiting. Xander went down to the store."

"Ah. Gotcha. So, you in High school?"

"Yup. The worst part about it is that my sister works there." she confided, but grinned at him, showing she didn't _really_ mind her being there.

"Bummer. That's gotta be hell on the social life."

"Yeah. Big time." she rolled her eyes in exaggeration.

Giles came back into the room, and handed him a set of keys, and a slip of paper. "I wrote down directions to the apartment. It's number 3, here's the number of the store if you can't find it, or need help with anything. Welcome to Sunnydale."

Ritchie slid both into his pocket. "Thanks. I'll probably stop in sometime soon and say hi, once I've gotten things settled in. Thanks, again, for all your help." They shook hands again. "Bye Dawn. Nice meeting you both."

"Bye."

They watched as he put his helmet back on, turned the bike on, and pulled out.

"Certainly seems like a nice fellow. Don't you think? Hope he doesn't end up badly."

"Me too. There's Xander. Wonder what took so long."

Xander pushed open the door. "Hey. Can you believe it, they were out of Coke _and_ Pepsi? I had to go to a different store to find any. Then I got both. Which do you want? Giles? Want one?"

"No, thank you, Xander. I've got some tea going in the back room. Maybe one of the girls will want some when they get here."

"Yeah, probably. Did the guy buy anything?"

"Excuse me?"

"The red-head who just left. I saw him from the corner."

"Oh, he wasn't a customer. He's a student of a friend, he's checking out the university here. Adam's letting him use his apartment while he's down here."

"Gotcha. What'cha doin', Dawnie?"

"Homework." she made a disgusted face. "English. We have to read a play by Shakespear."

"Any particular one, or just one that you picked?"

"Any one. But I don't really understand they're saying. It's so confusing."

Xander nodded. "Yeah, it confused me too, when we had to read that stuff. Why don't you ask Angel? After all, he _was_ alive during that era. Or Spike, he reads that kind of stuff. Probably understands it too."

"Why do you say that, Xander?" Giles asked.

"Do you really think that he's live this long without knowing a few things? Besides, have you seen those piles of books that he keeps in his place? They're _everywhere._"

Buffy and Willow's entrance distracted Giles enough for him to forget to ask when Xander had been in Spike's place. They were arguing over weather or not Buffy needed a new haircut.

"But it would look so good on you, Buffy!" Willow pointed out.

"But I _like_ my hair the way it is! I don't want it changed!" Buffy covered her hair protectively.

Xander laughed, and hugged Buffy. "I like your hair the way it is ,too."

Buffy hugged him back, and stuck her tongue out at Willow. "So there."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

After patrol that night, Xander wearily got out of his car, and trudged to the door of his apartment. As he walked by the mailboxes, the headache that was throbbing inside his skull worsened.

_Hope I don't have another concussion. But, even if I did, it would be gone by morning, right?_

He unlocked the door, tossed his keys onto the coffee table, walked into his bedroom, and fell face down on the bed, asleep before he landed.

His last thought, before conscience fled was: _I hope the alarms on._

Ritchie looked around the apartment that Adam was letting him use. He was sitting on the couch, feet propped up on the coffee table.

_Nice place. Better than the one he's using up in Seacouver. Wonder what else he owns._

He'd tossed his sparse amount of clothing into the dresser and the closet, and put away his toothbrush. He hadn't really brought much else, other than his laptop and his CD's. Adam had told him that the place was already furnished, so he didn't need to buy anything, or have anything shipped down from his old place.

He'd changed clothes, and took a quick jog around the place to familiarize himself with the immediate area. Not once had he felt the Buzz of another Immortal. So far, so good.

Tomorrow, he'd check out the collage, and find a gym that he could practice with his sword.

He took a swig of the soda he'd bought earlier, along with some other groceries. The sudden feeling of another Immortal almost made him choke.

_Spoke too soon._

But it was there, and then gone. He waited, expecting the Immortal to come back, but nothing.

_Hunh. Usually they at least come back to check if it's a friendly or not. Strange. _

He got up, grabbed his sword, and slid it under the couch, leaving only the grip sticking out. He sat down, but after a few minutes was too bored. The cable wasn't hooked up yet, so there was nothing on the TV except for static.

Ritchie wandered over to the bookcase, and started to read the titles of the books. Finding one that sounded good, he brought it back to the couch, and started reading. An hour later, he glanced at the clock and was surprised at how fast time had gone. The book was really interesting, and had drawn him in during the first few chapters. Flipping to the end of the book, he read the little bio on the author.

He snorted. Benjamin Pierce. Adam _would_ have a book that he wrote himself laying around in his apartment, wouldn't he.

_Figures._

He tossed the book onto the seat next to him, grabbed his sword, and went to bed.

He woke up around 7 am. _Duncan's fault_, he told himself. _He's the one who drags you out of bed at this ungodly hour to run for three miles. It's not because you like it. It's the Scot's fault. _

He dragged himself out of bed, changed into his running clothes, put on his shoes, and locked the door behind him. He started off, running towards downtown, figuring he'd get to know the place while he was running.

After about a mile, his brain started to wake up, and he looked around for the first time. _Nice looking town. Doesn't seem like a bad place to live. _

He noted where the stores were, and reminded himself to come by later and check them out. He also noticed a few help wanted signs, which was a good thing, since he needed to find a job.

Since he wasn't found by the police or anything like that when he first died, his social security card and everything was still valid. According to the US government, he had never died, so everything was valid. He had only been 19 when he died, but 4 years later, he was 23, according to his drivers licence. According to Adam, he was only 4, though.

He reached the end of the block, and turned the corner, to go around the block and take a different way back to the apartment. Glancing up to get the name of the street, he didn't see the blond that was turning the same corner. The ran smack dab into each other.

Only quick reflexes, on both their parts, save them from landing hard on the asphalt.

"Whoa! Sorry, didn't see you coming. You alright?" he asked, holding onto her shoulders to steady her.

"Yeah. Sorry, didn't see you coming either. I'm alright. Thanks." she grinned at him.

He let go, and took a step back. The grin reminded him of someone... Dawn! The girl that he'd met the other day in the store.

"You're Dawn's sister, aren't you?" he asked.

"How do you know Dawn?" she asked, surprised, and suspicious.

"Met her the other day when I stopped in to talk to Rupert Giles. She said she had a sister, but I don't think she told me your name."

"How did you know we're sisters?" she asked, still suspicious.

"You have the same smile. I'm good with faces. You've both got great smiles, that's how I recognized you." he smiled.

"Ah. Gotcha. Ok, well, I'm Buffy, Dawn's Sister." she held out her hand.

He shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Buffy, Dawn's Sister, I'm Ritchie." he said, making her name into a title.

She laughed. "Well, it was nice running into you, literally. I'm sure I'll see you again sometime. Gotta go, before I'm late. Bye!"

"Bye." He watched her disappear around the corner, then continued down the street. Which he still didn't know the name of.

He finished his run, and returned to the apartments. Ritchie was glad that he didn't fell the presence of another Immortal the entire run.

He showered, shaved, and changed into his "Job Hunting" gear: new light blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and his boots. That was the closes that he was willing to go to be 'dressed up.' Unless Amanda was coming, then he dug out the heavy gear. A button up shirt, and a tie. And black jeans, for that outfit.

If there was one thing that Ritchie refused to let Duncan change about him, it was his clothing. He would _not_ wear slacks and a collared shirt and a tie every day. No mater how many times Duncan told him that he looked good that way. Jeans and a t-shirt worked for him.

He made sure he had his wallet, picked up his messenger back and grabbed his old worn leather jacket, although he didn't think he would need it. But, when living in Washington, you prepared for the worst, and hoped for the best.

_Yes, but you're not in Washington anymore, are you. _

Still. It was better to be over prepared than to be under prepared.

Besides, it was only May. You never know, it might get chilly.

He left the bike home, and decided to walk. He also thought it would be a good idea to get a buss pass, and find the closest rout. What with gas being so expensive these days, it was best to ride the bus than to drive.

_Ok, list of things to do today:_

_Collage, Job, Bus pass, routs, eat sometime, Library, Movie store. That ought to cover it for today._

He'd seen the library earlier, so he thought that was a good place to start. Libraries usually had most of the information that you needed when you moved to a new town.

He found it with no problems, and entered the air conditioned building. Ritchie waited patiently for the people in front of him to finish checking out their books, then stepped forward.

"Hi. I'm new in town, and I was wondering if you could help me out with a few things." He smiled at the lady behind the desk.

"Sure, what can I do for you?" she smiled back.

"Well, I was wondering where to get a bus schedule, and a buss pass, and maybe a map of the area."

"Well, out in the lobby we have a bunch of bus schedules, see right there?" she pointed out a Sunnydale Public Transit sign that he'd missed. Sure enough, there were several bus schedules below the sign.

"Ah, great, thanks." he nodded.

"And we can copy a map out of one of the atlases for you. You can get a bus pass at either Cost Cutter, or at the transit depot. It's ten dollars, and lasts for one month, or if you're a student, you can get a quarterly pass, and it's seventeen dollars."

"You don't, by chance, get asked this frequently, do you?" Ritchie chuckled.

"How could you tell?" She scrunched up her nose, and rolled her eyes.

"Hmm. Wild guess. Ok, so which atlas should I look in?" Ritchie asked.

"Here, they're over here. And the first four copies are free, so you can make 3 mistakes."

As they walked by a shelf of books, he glanced at the book displayed prominently on the top. He stopped, and picked it up. The librarian stopped politely, and waited.

"Shadows of the Past, by Benjamin Pierce. Hunh. So, he's got a new one out, does he."

"Yes, that just came out about a month ago. It's really quite good. Have you read any of his other books?" she asked.

"Only one. And I'm in the middle of it actually." Ritchie shook his head. "I didn't know he wrote books. He never said anything about it." he muttered.

"You know Benjamin Pierce?" she squeaked.

"Apparently. But I didn't know he was a writer. He, uh, he's letting me use his place while I'm at to collage here."

"Wow." she breathed. "And he never said anything about being a writer?"

"Well, he told me he was writing his memoirs, but I don't think that this qualifies." he held up the book. "What's it about, anyway?"

"Its about the legend of the Four Horsemen, from the Bible?" she answered, watching a child look a magazine.

Ritchie almost dropped the book. "The Four Horsemen?" he repeated.

"Yeah, you know, Pestilence, War, Famine, Death?"

"Yeah, I know who they were. Intimately." he muttered the last under his breath.

"Hunh. Guess I'm going to have to check this one out, and read it. Ought to be an...interesting story."

She smiled, confused at his tone. "Yeah, I found it fascinating."

"Fascinating. I'm sure it will be. Right, so, maps?"

"Yep. Over here. This one's a good one for local maps, the pages are marked, see?" she opened the page to a marked page. "The copier is over there, and if you need help, I'll be behind the desk. Alright?"

"Yep. Thanks a lot. I'll be over in a few minutes."

He found the map he wanted, made a copy, and put the book back. He took Adams book up to the counter, and filled out the application for a library card. He signed his name on it, checked out the book, and thanked the librarian once again for all her help. On his way out, he grabbed two copies of the bus schedule. One for his bag, and one for home.

He headed for Cost Cutter, which he could see a few blocks down, since it was easier to find than the bus depot. On his way, he swung into one of the many McDonald's in town. Since cholesterol wasn't going to kill him, he figured that he was safe eating there. He at his breakfast on the way to the grocery store. He also stopped into one of the coffee places on the way, and got a cup of coffee.

One thing that you did a lot of in Washington was drink coffee. Apparently, you did the same in California, from what he could tell. Since he'd left the library, he'd passed at least three places that sold coffee and tea.

_That's almost as bad as Seattle. Seattle is the Mecca of coffee drinkers everywhere. There's at least three coffee joints on every two blocks of Seattle._

He got into Cost Cutter, got his bus pass for the month of May, since he wasn't enrolled in the university yet.

_Ok, so that ticked off bus schedule, bus pass, maps, and eating. That leaves job and collage. Since it's Saturday, I'll go in on Monday to the admin office. So, that leaves two days for job hunting._

Ritchie walked back into the down town area, and started going into stores, asking for applications, and if anyplace was hiring. There seemed to be quite a few places that were hiring, mostly for nights, it seemed. He filled out applications until his hands hurt. He gave them his cell phone number, and reminded himself to get a house phone hooked up along with the cable.

At a nutritional store, he asked the clerk if there was a good gym nearby. The girl, an athletic blonde, beamed at him, and gave him several names. He thanked her, and escaped as quickly as possible.

_Uuuuhg. Health nuts. Scary beings._

He also stopped into a Blockbuster, and a Hollywood Video, and got cards at both places. That way, if he had fines at one place, then he could go to the other until he payed the fines, and vice versa.

By now it was late afternoon. His stomach was telling him that McDonald's was several hours ago, and that if he didn't feed it soon, it was going to eat his spine instead.

"Ok, ok, fine, I'll feed you. Just hang on a few more minutes. I'm sure I can re-grow my spine, but I'm not sure I'd _want_ to." He muttered in the direction of the starving organ.

He pulled out his wallet, and checked the contents. _I think I need to find a bank, and have Duncan transfer my account down here. Before I run out of cash._

Ritchie walked into a small restaurant, hoping that their burgers and apple pie were equal to that of Betty's in Seacouver.

He settled down, and ordered. He watched people walking around out on the streets until his food came. He cautiously tasted everything, and found that it wasn't as good as Betty's, but it came close. When he was done, and got up to pay the check, he asked the waitress where a good mechanic shop was, and she wrote down a number, and an address for him.

"This is the one that I use. He's good, and he doesn't charge an arm and a leg. Just one or the other." She winked.

"Sounds good. Thanks for the help. Have a good day."

"You too." She sighed as he left. "What a cutie. Polite too."

One of the other waitress, overhearing muttered, "Probably gay too."

"It would figure, wouldn't it? All the good ones all have girlfriends, and all the other good ones have boyfriends. Ah, well, what do I expect, living in California, land of the fruits and nuts."

"So, which one are you? A fruit, or a nut?" The other girl teased.

"Me? I'm a fruity nut." They both laughed.

"Ok, then I'll be a nutty fruit. Now we're the best of both worlds."


End file.
